inequality

Unmitigated climate change will make much of the United States poorer and generally exacerbate rising wealth inequalities, according to a new study. For every one degree Celsius rise in global temperatures, the study projects that the country will lose about 1.2 percent of its Gross Domestic Product. The economic impact of climate change will not be uniform, say the researchers in this week’s Science magazine, with a few regions possibly experiencing gains.

Researchers in the U.S. and Scandinavia have compared leaked evidence of global tax evasion with officially reported tax records in their countries to show how wealth concentration is both under-reported and fueling inequality.

As the global economy stares down the barrel of rising inequality and increased automation, more countries are toying with the idea of a universal basic income. But a new report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is less than enthusiastic, saying that without significant tax hikes, a basic income would do little to reduce poverty and even exacerbate it in some cases.

American philanthropy has been undergoing a major resurgence in the last few decades, leading some to dub this a ‘golden age’ for giving. At the same time, wealth concentration and inequality, the gap between rich and poor, has been on the increase. Author of a new book called The Givers, David Callahan, explains why these two trends are fueling each other and what needs to change to avoid oligarchy.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde delivered a grim warning on Monday: Unless every government urgently invests more in education and research to boost weak productivity growth, living standards around the world, efforts to reduce inequality and social stability could all be jeopardized.

The annual public letter from Bill and Melinda Gates has become a much-celebrated event in the global development calendar. But the self-described ‘impatient optimists’ paint a picture that is so selective in its use of facts that it amounts to little more than propaganda for a failing industry, and indeed a failing ideology. The 2017 letter is especially striking for just how out-of-sync it feels with the current zeitgeist.

Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo vowed to fight inequality as his top priority for 2017. But Widodo has a massive gap to close, according to a new report by Oxfam today: Just four men own more wealth than the poorest 40 percent of the country – about 100 million people.

Rather than taking our usual tack of interviewing a guest, our small but devoted and talented news team decided that inauguration day for President Donald Trump was an appropriate occasion to highlight some issues we intend to focus on in the coming year.

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Humanosphere

Seattle is the epicenter of a global effort to beat back poverty and illness in the poorest corners of the world. We'd like Humanosphere to be your go-to source for news, conversation and analysis about this effort as it unfolds. Your host is Tom Paulson, a reporter with decades of experience covering science, medicine and global health in the US and beyond.

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